


Worth Remembering

by rowofstars



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M, Ficlet, Fluff, Prompt Fic, Spinner Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 10:16:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20095642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rowofstars/pseuds/rowofstars
Summary: A Rumbelle coffee shop AU.





	Worth Remembering

**Author's Note:**

> For prompt #3 of Writer's Month: coffee shop AU. I realized I'd not only never written one of these for any fandom, but also that I have never seen Gold as the barista.

“Tall hazelnut macchiato, caramel drizzle and extra whip?”

Belle French blinked and looked up from her wallet where she’d been rummaging in the coin pocket to find another nickel. The man behind the counter gave her a crooked smile, and she shook her head.

“Yes, thank you, Adam,” she said, smiling back at him. “How do you always know what I’m going to order?”

Adam shrugged and started putting her order in the register. “It’s Tuesday. Monday and Wednesday you’re a standard vanilla latte. Tuesday, it’s the macchiato. Thursdays, chai tea. And Friday, if you’re working, a chocolate chip frappe with _extra_ chocolate sauce.”

He looked up and smirked, and she laughed, dropping her money into his open palm. “I like to treat myself.”

“As well you should,” he said softly, setting her money in the register drawer and then turning to the espresso machine.

Her head tilted as she watched him pick up the tall cup and write her name across the front. There was a loop in the middle of the B, and the E curved up at the end and then looped back to underline the rest of the text, the same as it always was. Today he added something beneath it but she couldn’t tell what.

“Where’s Jefferson?” she asked.

Adam put her money in the register drawer and then turned to start making her order, talking as he moved. “He called off, Grace is sick.”

Jefferson, the owner of the small coffee shop, had been a friend of hers since she’d started at the library branch across the street. That was two years ago, and she’d come here faithfully every day she worked. Adam Gold had started a few months ago, new in town the same as she was. He was a single father like Jefferson, and she’d noticed that they both seemed to find a kindred spirit in each other, becoming fast friends and often swapping shifts to coordinate activities with their children.

Her mouth drooped. “Oh, poor thing.” Then she added, “So, do you remember everyone’s orders?”

He let out a short laugh. “Only the ones worth remembering, or the ones that are so aggravating to make you see them in your nightmares.”

“Such as?”

He paused and looked at her over his shoulder with a mischievous lift of his eyebrows. “You know the Mother Superior from St. Matthews?”

She made a face. “Unfortunately.”

Mother Mary Agnes was exactly what everyone thought of when the words Mother Superior or Catholic School Nun were mentioned. An older woman with a severe glare, and the kind of flat, toothy smile that made you think of a shark. She looked down her nose at everyone, and had an air about her that made you wonder if she was really as chaste and pious as she wanted to appear.

Gold took a breath and then said, “Venti salted caramel mocha frappuccino, extra shot, extra caramel syrup, _three_ pumps of toffee nut syrup, double blended, with extra whipped cream.”

He was nearly running out of air by the end, and Belle’s eyes went wide. “Good lord...:”

With his lips pressed together he gave her a tilt of his head and turned back to making her beverage.

She frowned as she watched him moved around behind the counter, his gait awkward and limping. His right leg had been injured at some point in the past, though she didn’t know how. He never talked too much about himself, but she found herself harboring a small crush all the same. She knew he was sweet and kind, and that his dry humor meshed well with Jefferson’s particular brand of sarcasm. There were some days when they were both here that she would leave with her sides hurting from laughter. She also knew that he worked too hard, harder than anyone should have to, always picking up extra shifts or odd jobs for money under the table. 

His movements were quick and practiced, and she caught her gaze drifting down, passed the fringe of hair that hung almost to his shoulders, to where his apron was tied at his waist. He was slim, but his t-shirts showed off the lean muscles in his arms and back. His jeans fit quite well too, and she looked away as she felt a heat creep up her neck, slightly chastised herself for ogling him when he was just doing his job.

After another minute, Gold turned and set the cup down in front of her, flashing her another crooked grin. “Here you are.”

There was something drawn under her name, and she lifted the cup to see it was a rose, and the curving line he’d put under the letters had been turned into a thorny stem.

“Oh,” she gasped softly, lowering the cup and shifting her gaze to Gold’s face.

He smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry. I - I can’t afford a real one, so…”

Belle bit her lip as he looked away and then put her free hand over his where it was braced on the counter. His eyes snapped to her immediately, and then looked back and forth between their hands and her face.

“Belle, I -”

She smiled and wrapped her fingers around his, giving him a light squeeze. “Would you like to make yourself something and come sit with me? I, um, have a little time before work.”

Adam’s lips curved softly, and he nodded. “I’d like that.”


End file.
